Christmas Town

 

Adam and I decided on a whim to take our kids to the "Bavarian Getaway" town of Leavenworth for their  annual Christmas Lighting Festival.  Once the evening settled in, the town lit up with thousands of twinkling Christmas lists.  Not only were there thousands of lights, there were TONS of people, too many people especially for Tessa.  Still the kids enjoyed meeting St. Nicholas and making lanterns to take home. We also met Rudolph, Santa's Elf, and Father Christmas.

Our Little Reindeers

 Looks like Emily is making a reindeer face!  

Can you spot the blond-haired boy looking straight at the camera? That's Michael singing with his 

Kindergarten class. For one song, they got to wear shades. That was definitely a highlight of the performance.

 Emily's more difficult to spot in this photo, although I can see her also looking with a smile at the camera.

 

Another highlight of the evening--Emily  had a speaking part as one of Santa's reindeer.  This was the first of many back-to-back school Christmas programs.

Thankgiving Jam

What a rock star!

These photos are from Thanksgiving. I didn't have a voice (woke up just able to whisper), but I was singing inside while we jammed with family. I think we need to have a hoedown one of these days!

Thanksgiving at the Anderson's

We had a wonderful feast at our house for Thanksgiving dinner. We borrowed some extra tables and chairs from friends to have a spot for the nine adults and ten children eating with us. Adam and I were glad to have the space for all our guests. The kids quickly ate and wandered off to play, but Tess stayed at the kids' table and moved from plate to plate sampling a bit of each.

Dusting of Snow

Winter is settling in the valley! We had our first snow earlier this week. It's the perfect snow for snowmen and snow forts, and mini mountains. Yup, Michael and Robbie made a small pile snow that they told me was Mt. Rainier, or Mountain Reindeer as Robbie called it.

Tessa saw snow last year, but no doubt this year is like a whole new experience for her. I just wonder what she is thinking when she steps out into snow, discovering again snow with her mismatched gloves.

Apples Crisp

Michael, Emily, and I sliced a few apples and made some apple crisp tonight. Two weeks ago, we picked two boxes worth of apples at the Smith's orchard with my friend, Kresta, and her 3 kids.

As we weighed and loaded our boxes into our vans, the kids planted tumbleweed apple trees in the dirt. It was a crisp morning, but I am so glad my friend invited us to join them for this outing for the fun memory and tasty apple crisp.

Leaving Fall

I am ready to put the pumpkins away and get out the Christmas decorations. We've had our first dusting of snow, and that makes things feel very Christmas like. Before we move on to the next season, we cannot leave behind fall's highlights.

Carving Pumpkins: Michael's had a traditional jack-o-lantern look, Robbie's wore a superhero mask around its eyes, and Emily came up with peace sign eyes and an I "Heart" U mouth with flowers in its hair.


Fieldtrip: I joined Michael's class on a trip to the pumpkin patch. I had the most fun riding on the bus with Michael. His teacher invited any parents to ride on the bus, and while one opted not to, I was more than happy to ride the bus once again. We had a good time at the patch, too. The kids flew off the steep slide pictured below, and Michael walked among the pumpkins until finally he found the perfect one.


Halloween: We had a cupcake, Narnia character (I think Peter), a "fighter fighter", and a fairy-like witch.

Getting ready . . . Can't hardly wait!

Halloween is just around the corner. My kids are so excited. They keep asking me all sorts of questions. "Has Dad made me a sword yet?" "Can we go right now and buy me a fireman axe and whistle from the dollar store?" "Can we make a pencil wand for me to take to school?" We've bought a little here and there for our costumes, but I like to be creative with what we already have. We'll see how their costumes come together for the Halloween party and trick-or-treating. Can't wait!

Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins!

Somehow, we ended up with almost 20 pumpkins around our house that came from the grocery store, a pumpkin patch, our garden, and generous friends. A few are carved on the front porch, some still sit out in the garden, and all the rest are staying warm inside. A friend and I even got together and decorated comical, cute wood pumpkins.

It's fun to see the crazy looking squashes and decorative gourds, too. The kids wonderingly study these intriguing fruits...or vegetables...or whatever they really are!

Backyard Maze

It's almost time to put the lawn mower away for winter. Maybe that motivated Adam to try something new the last two times he mowed the lawn. This shot is of Adam working on the first maze. No doubt, Adam's a natural at being "Dad".

How's School Going?

How's school going for the Anderson kids? Emily, Michael, and Robert are all enjoying school. Michael's in afternoon kinder and Robbie is in a preschool co-op. The day before school Emily said to me, "I didn't know I could be excited about school!"

After school, I always ask the kids what they did at school and recess. Adam asked Michael if he played with a friend at recess. He answered, "I didn't play with a friend, I made a friend!" If we ask him who is friends are, he usually replies, "I don't remember their names." I really laughed when he told us that one day a classmate was using the class bathroom and while he was in the bathroom he was singing. Oh, and when Michael rode the bus home for the first time, the school put a sticker label on his shirt that had his name and home address. These kids are so little!

2011 Franklin Falls Hike

We have some good friends in our neighborhood that invited our family to go hiking with them one late August Saturday. We visited a place called Franklin Falls. Great hike for kids--one mile in to a big waterfall, then one mile back over even terrain. Adam and I always enjoy a chance to get the kids outside for a refreshing hike and time in nature.

Wildflower Bouquet

Adam goes on a hike or campout with the scouts nearly every month and brings home photos and stories to share with me. This summer, he brought a wildflower bouquet home for me. The Nalgene bottle vase made it all the sweeter.

Sweet (and sour) berries

This summer, we went to two u-pick farms for raspberries, blueberries, and cherries. Taking the kids to pick berries is definitely a highlight of our summers. They couldn't be happier--playing outside with snacks within reach all around them. Adam and I like stocking our freezer with the fruit. Next year we will get more. My new favorite breaky? A bowl of corn flakes or total topped with frozen blueberries and raspberries.

Summer 2011: July's Camp Trip

July's camping trip was with Adam's work--the Firm Campout to the Lower Naches Campground. I didn't go this time--Tess was just getting over being sick, so she and I opted to stay indoors rather than venture for an outing out of doors. I was okay with that--I like camping, but it's trickier with a one-year-old.

Highlights:

Photos! Emily practiced taking photos of nature--rocks, pine needles, and more rocks.


SCARLET! Sarah and Brody's big, well behaved dog. Scarlet would follow the kids around, cleaning up any spills. First thing in the morning, Emily would ask to take Scarlet around on her leash to walk and play.

Ladder Golf! Looks to me like Michael really got into this game.

The River! Finding cool rocks, getting all wet, and throwing rocks with Dad (Robbie told me three times in a row to include that last part about rock throwing with Dad).

This special camping trip with the kiddos was a treat for Adam, and sharing the fun with friends from work was an added bonus.

Rockin' good time!

Sew Good

I put my sewing stuff away vowing to not pull it out again until summer was over and I had the time to finish a project I started. That all changed after Mary, Rob, and Annie came to visit. Mary is awesome at sewing and I really wanted to work on a project with her. She sewed Emily an adorable skirt, and that got me going on a few projects myself.

Market Skirts for the girls (Emily's made by Mary, Tessa's by me) turned out adorable. Michael loves his new Hobo Sack. Like the crisp look of "AKA Family"? I added this to a canvas bag made by a friend at limabean using freezer paper stenciling.

Summer 2011: June Camping Trip

I set a goal to camp with our family each month this summer. In June, we went "cabining", a little more comfortable for me and our one-year-old daughter. We went to Camp Zarahemla, or Camp "Z", for the second year in a row.

While we were cabining we . . .
went canoeing and spotted teenage geese,
made friends with all the neighbors,
star gazed by the fire sans kiddos,
bought ice cream at the Hallelujah fruit and produce store,
tasted cock n bull ginger beer (think root beer please),
collected all the branches that looked like little guns,
cooked dinner in the dutch oven,
roasted marshmallows,
and did all those things that made cabining just like camping.

Michael told me the best part of Camp Z was "all of it!"